CVS to acquire Apothecary By Design

Photo / Tim Greenway

Apothecary by Design principals Catherine Cloudman. Tom Madden middle, and Mark McAuliffen are show in a lab at the company's Preble Street headquarters in Portland in this 2015 photo from the Mainebiz archives. BelHealth Investment Partners, which bought a majority stake in Apothecary By Design in August 2015, announced it is selling the Portland-based specialized pharmaceutical company to CVS Health for an undisclosed amount.

Woonsocket, R.I., company CVS Health will acquire the Portland specialized pharmaceutical company Apothecary By Design.

The Forecaster reported that CVS Health CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) is buying Apothecary By Design from its parent company, BelHealth Investment Partners, which bought a majority stake in Apothecary By Design in August 2015. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Apothecary By Design was founded as a community pharmacy in 2008 by five partners as "a different type of pharmacy — one that worked as an integral part of the patient's care team, and that actively advocated to achieve the best possible outcomes," according to its website. Today Apothecary By Design serves patients throughout the country.

In 2016, Apothecary By Design was recognized by Mainebiz as the fastest-growing large company, with sales growth of 396% from 2013–15.

The company sells medications used to treat HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, autoimmune disorders and a range of illnesses and diseases, with employees that year numbering 142 total, 79 of whom were in Portland.

CVS merger with Aetna

CVS's acquisition of Apothecary By Design comes on the heels of its Dec. 3 announcement that it had reached a $69 billion merger agreement with Aetna (NYSE: AET), the nation's third-largest health insurance company, that included assumption of an additional $8 billion of Aetna's debt. CVS, faced with competition not only from the recently merged Walgreens-Rite Aid chain but also supermarkets and big-box retailers, stated in its joint announcement that the merger would fill "an unmet need in the current health care system and presents a unique opportunity to redefine access to high-quality care in lower cost, local settings whether in the community, at home, or through digital tools."

"This combination brings together the expertise of two great companies to remake the consumer health care experience," CVS Health President and Chief Executive Officer Larry J. Merlo said in the news release. "With the analytics of Aetna and CVS Health's human touch, we will create a health care platform built around individuals."